


A New Hope

by writingstarsinthesky



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, spoilers for rotj I guess???, this is angst and fluff in a neat package
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 11:45:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9438716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingstarsinthesky/pseuds/writingstarsinthesky
Summary: Vader is dying





	

Vader is dying

He had thought dying hurt before, when he was burning on Mustafar, left there by Obiwan to be consumed by fire. When he had been put in this suit to sustain his life, the mechanics pulling at his damaged frame, it must have been purgatory. 

But now he knows that was merely punishment for his crimes in life, for what he had done to leave behind Anakin Skywalker. He struggles to draw in breath with his fried equipment, every pull into his lungs a fight against the decades old damage done from the smoke off his own burning skin.

He stumbles as they walk through the halls of the doomed base, trying to keep as much weight off his son as possible. Luke was hurt too, and though Vader’s suit was screaming with alerts about his failing life support, warnings flashing in front of his eyes to tell him what he already knew, he didn’t want to burden his son with the weight of the heavy thing. 

Of course, that’s not factoring the fact that his legs suddenly shut down, and he grunts as he hits the ground. After 30 years, it seemed they couldn’t bear the strain of the force lightning. Dizzily, he wonders if it would be better to die here, curled on his side like a child. Vader had been born out of pride and hate; it would be only fitting he should die humiliated and sorrowful.

One thing he never could predict, even as Anakin, was the endless bounds to which kindness could drive someone. Luke is turning him on his back, gripping his wrists in his hands, dragging him across the floor. The effort it must take him is enormous, and in that moment he is again reminded it’s not him Luke takes after.

He is Padme, through and through. Her love, her fierce stubbornness, all in Luke’s kind face. 

Vader wonders, briefly, if his daughter is like he was. Stubborn, loyal, just, Ashoka had said, and just a little bit crazy

He misses his friends terribly.

“Help me… Take this mask off.”

“But you’ll die.”

He knows that, and it doesn’t scare him as much as it used to. He’s sick of red, of mechanical readings of the world around him. He’s been a slave his whole life, and he wants to end it free.

“Let me look on you… With my own eyes.”

Luke does as he asks, and Vader can’t help the smile that breaks across his face. Sunshine hair and blue, blue eyes, an anxious face that was still soft with youth. He’s blond, Padme, do you see? Blond hair and blue eyes, he looks like I used to

_I see, my love. It’s almost over, Ani… You’re almost home._

“Now, go, my son… Leave me…”

“No, I’ll not leave you here! I’ve got to save you!”

Oh, but wasn’t he just the perfect Skywalker. Stubborn, and willing to love all too easily. What life could he have now, after all Vader had done? Even if he wasn’t dying, all that would await him was a cell. Nothing more of Darth Vader would ever be said

But then, it wasn’t Vader Luke was trying to save, was it?

“You… Already have, Luke.” Wheezing, fighting his body that begged him to let go, Anakin Skywalker looks at the face of his son, and he wishes things had been different. But now, haven given up everything for the second time, looking into the eyes of his son, the jedi made of Padme’s love and his boundless hope, the man who was kind enough to look a machine in the face and tell him he was still a man…

Anakin had never been more proud.

“You were right about me… Tell your sister, you were right…”

Letting go has never been easier, and his eyes slide out of focus as they drift shut, sinking into darkness. 

 

 

Elsewhere, Anakin jerks awake, sitting straight up in the silk sheets. Sunlight is streaming through the windows, and he can here the familiar waves on the lake outside. He looks down at his hands, eyes widening when he sees healthy, whole skin, rushing to the mirror Padme had on her dresser.

His face was just as he remembered it, minus the scar through his brow. He lifts a trembling hand, pressing his fingers into the soft, stubbly cheek, the feeling rushing back to him. He turns toward the open door, trembling as he approaches the deck, the warm winds of Naboo sliding over his bare chest. He can hear laughter, familiar voices making his heart surge into his throat.

Padme is the first to turn, and her face lights up when she sees him. Obiwan offers him a soft smile, rising to his feet as Padme takes off across the sand. 

Anakin meets her halfway, and as they collide in a hug fireworks burst over the skies of Endor. 

Leia rests a hand on Luke’s arm, bracing him in a hug as the pyre flickers to life, the Skywalker twins watching as embers from their father’s body dance into the air.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm the best at titles


End file.
